Vincent Parker

Vincent 'Bushy' Parker[3](11 February 1918 – 29 January 1946) was an Australian Royal Air Force flying ace, a prisoner of war and a serial escaper.

Townsville City Council named Vincent Bushy Parker park in Rollingstone, Queensland Australia after him.

[4] Parker's mother died aged 26[3] and his father was unable to cope with his work alongside the responsibility of a young child.

[5] This stunt impressed a department store manager nearby, who offered Parker a job as a showman.

Tired, Parker moved to Sydney[5] and in 1938, he obtained a billet as a steward on the cruise liner Ontranto.

[3] In 1938, he developed a desire to follow his brothers into the RAF [6], and cabled his parents in Australia to asked for their permission.

11 Fighter Training School at RAF Shawbury in August 1939 and gained his pilot's badge on 25 October 1939.

[11] Pilot Officer Richard Hardy ended up captured in France and joined Parker in Dulag Luft.

[13] Corran Purdon described jeering, cheering, a burning palliasse, water bombs, morale unlike any other camp, and the riot squads, when he entered the Colditz courtyard for the first time.

[12] Eggers suspected theft, and ordered a systematic search for the camera,[12] which was found safe, on a spare palliasse.

"[17] Pat Reid highlighted Parker as a major figure in the POW camp, stating: "Colditz would not have been quite what it was if Bush had not been there, and his activities throw a revealing sidelight upon the life of the prison".

[17] Notably, he was among four outstanding lockbreakers in Colditz, [19] alongisde the Frenchman Frédérick Guigues, the Pole Miki Surmanowicz, and the Dutchman van Doorninck.

[19] Parker cut keys from discarded fragments of metal,[17] including coal shovels, bed iron and coat hooks.

[22] The Dresden Gestapo turned up at unexpected times to conduct searches and compare photographs to confirm prisoners' identities.

[23] In one instance, Parker stole papers, a weapon and a sandwich from the bag of a visiting Gestapo officer.

[26] Explaining, Parker's batch of grog "tasted of cats piss..., it could burn a hole in steel plates...

[28] Champ recalled Bader and Guy German taking on Parker and Mike Wittet at a game of bridge.

[30] In Colditz, Parker alongside John Patrick 'Bag' Dickinson and Albert van Rood, dealt in prisoner necessities and Red Cross luxuries.

[1][8] Parker, along with fellow prisoners Dickinson and van Rood, traded alcohol with a Colditz guard, who handled fuel.

Distillers attempted knockoff drinks like grog,[27] whisky, vodka, crème de menthe, white schnapps and gin.

A Hampden pilot, downed on a daylight raid over Kristiansand Harbour in April 1940, Donaldson [40] was one of three survivors out of 24 from the squadron.

[8] He dug tunnels with Jimmy Buckley, Peter Butterworth and Great Escaper and X-Organisation founder Roger Bushell.

To trap heat Parker wore his donated woolens... A white periscope device placed through the snow helped his breathing.

[49] In April 1942, Australian RAF pilot Cornish possessed a receipt for a magnet from a Sagan hardware shop.

[50] The guard was ashen faced at the sight of that probative document...[50] In 1942, Parker become one of the first escapers to flee from Stalag Luft III.

[49] Unsettled by this train journey taking him off direction, Parker stole a bicycle and travelled towards Poland.

The atmosphere had tension, it was like participating in a heist movie...[54] The only piece of equipment Parker had on arrival was a tube of toothpaste.

The guard always left a 20-second window of opportunity...[65] On the day of the escape attempt, Parker and Harvey, out of sight of the guard, rappelled from the third floor window and made their journey... On their way to the shelter, a sentry heard them...[66] They startled this guard... Reactive, he fired warning shots... Making it worse, he smashed the alarm... Hassled, Parker picked the lock of the shelter door...[66] Inside the shelter, Parker locked the door.

[69] They left him with his skeleton keys...[69] Parker cut a hole in the wire grill and passed out his greatcoat which contained his prized tools.

[2] The city council in Townsvile, Australia named 'Vincent Bushy Parker Park', situated in Rollingstone after him.